This was a demonstration of a suite of open and extensible software applications for managing energy demand and time-of-use pricing by a firm in Boulder, Colorado, called Tendril.

ECONOMIST: The much-talked-of smart grid prepares to enter the home

By communicating with a smart meter, Nucleus will let people program appliances to take advantage of off-peak pricing plans offered by utilities that have time-of-use electricity plans.

FORBES: Get yourself connected: GE at CES 2011

"You'd be led to believe that you put in real-time pricing and a nice Web site and immediately get a 15% reduction in energy use, " says Accenture's Guthridge.

FORBES: Energy